We had a spectacular looking booth at the August Magic Trade Show. I'm not afraid to admit that we felt our booth was effn awesome. We had catalogs, notebooks to hand out, a great display and even Peppermint Patties (Ted's favorite). Unfortunately, we did not stay for the whole show. To make a really long and painful story super short: we were not in the printed guide under our category and we were not placed well on the show floor. In fact, all of the independent t-shirt brands were about 7 aisles over. We were next to beanie babies and licensed sports apparel. So, we're going back in February. Crazy you say? Maybe. But the show organizers are working with us and we are not going to let an apparel trade show get us down. We will be successful and we are going to do what it takes to get there. In the meantime, enjoy some glimpses of the coolness that was OLN at our short show appearance. And remember, "Don't let the bastards get you down!"
-Shelley
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| Damn this looked good! |
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| What would we do without 3M command hooks? |
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| Just before I took this, the sportswear people in the next booth were staring at us and whispering "What are those t-shirt freaks doing here?" Then I gave her candy. |
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| We attracted a lot of other vendors and shirt salesmen with our minty freshness |
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| Now you know what my kitchen counters look like. Plus, cool notebooks. |
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| Best thing about the show? The hoodies Ted got for us. I LOVE mine, thanks TT! |
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| We were lookin' all professional-like, with our sewn in tags... |
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| One Less Nemesis? WHO? |
6 comments:
The first time I hit Magic I just walked around for 3 days scouting, next time I went and had a booth. I insisted on good placement and they did put me in a good spot. The February shows are better than the August. They will discount your booth next time around because you had issues. My show was a big success from all the aftermath and followup. Good luck at your next show. - Keith from VUDOG
Keith - Thanks so much! If you're a member on the t-shirt forums, I wrote a full and detailed post over there (sharper is my username). We wondered if February was a better market, so we're actually getting excited again. It's SO good to hear of your success from the show. Were you at POOL or Street?
Yeah I read T-Shirt Forums, I should join. Yeah February much better, its a lead into Spring buying. I was in Street, I didn't want to hit Pool cause thats more boutique stuff. Don't expect a knock out of the park when you are there first time. But try to set up appointments with any possible buyers before you go, follow up on leads, know your market. As with any brand, it takes time to grow. Magic is the top show, the both times I went there it paid off nice for me. Keith from VUDOG
Keith - thanks again for the insights! T-shirt forums is really so awesome, great community of people and lots of good information and sharing. We are feeling a lot more optimistic about February and hopefully we'll have some of the same successes you've had. We'll keep posting updates!
http://iamthetrend.com/2011/08/29/tips-for-exhibiting-and-making-the-most-of-a-trade-show/
Check this nice article out, it has some insight on trade shows and Pool in particular. As I said, I did Street cause that's more my direction.
Keith - VUDOG
Keith = WOW! I am reading the article on the link you posted from I Am The Trend - what an awesome article! I wish I had seen this before August, but I will definitely be referring to this for February. There are some things I'm proud to say that we did right, just stumbling into the best practices (like taking mediums and also bringing a sample of the full size range) but there is still so much we can learn and use from this. I'm going to post it over on the forums as well, it will help so many indie tee brands. Awesome!
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